


five dollars

by irrecular



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Mutual Pining, Pining, Strangers to Lovers, This is Bad, and i did it in like 3 hours, based on that one tweet thats like "spotify premium for couples", because i didnt edit, kind of angst, mark confesses at a party, this is just really soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 16:19:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18318878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irrecular/pseuds/irrecular
Summary: who would have known only having 23 dollars in your account would mean finding someone you loved?





	five dollars

**Author's Note:**

> this. is. bad! i! apologise!

**day one, march 23rd**

 

ten dollars. that's all it costs.

 

 _ten_ dollars.

 

mark is nineteen, and currently studying music for his undergraduate degree in college. the problem with mark is that he hasn't got a job, and what little money he does have comes from his parents. what little money he gets is about 400 a month. 

 

this seems like a lot.

 

it is not. 

 

mark spends 200 of it on rent (he goes half with johnny, a person with questionable life choices - currently throwing up in the toilet bowl because he got wasted last night), the rest is reserved mainly for food. he's still a teenager, the boy has take-out cravings. whatever is left at the end of the month is spent on alcohol, because he's just become the legal age to drink and he desperately wants to fit in with jaehyun and his boy-toy taeyong. they're "top tier man, if i could get in with them, boy i'd be elated".

 

jaehyun is hosting ~~another~~ party at the end of the month (it's march 23rd) and mark is looking at his bank account. he has 23 dollars, and he knows if he spends ten dollars on a _fucking_ spotify premium account, he won't have sufficient funds for getting shit-faced in nine days time.

 

but mark doesn't know if he can handle the sound of johnnys insides coming up his throat anymore. and he knows that if he presses play on any song spotify will take him to another _unrelated_ artist - because spotify don't know how to fucking do its job properly apparently. they recently announced a deal for people in relationships, but mark is sad and lonely, and is incapable of getting in a relationship that's more than platonic.

 

"mark," johnny all but whimpers from the bathroom. mark ignores him.

 

"markus," johnny attempts again. mark grinds his teeth, willing the incessant need to _yeet_ johnny off the goddamn planet out of his mind. or at least the forefront of his mind.

 

"what?" he replies, he stays level-headed.

 

"can you get my phone for me?" johnny requests, a smile in his voice.

 

mark gets up to give him his phone, staring down with something akin to pity (but with less sympathy) at johnnys position. leant over a toilet bowl, half shaking from illness and laughter as he gags into the bowl.

 

"i hope you choke on your puke," mark says as he walks away. johnny laughs, then gags. "love you too," he yells after him. 

 

mark re-assumes his position by his desk. he puts on his headphones as another wave of nausea hits johnny.

 

he allows spotify to play san-e instead of jay park.

 

**day two, march 24th**

 

mark is a night owl. so it's not uncommon for him to be up this late.

 

this late being three a.m.

 

this is okay, because marks classes don't start until three p.m.

 

mark is happy with this arrangement.

 

" _dong-hyukie12 has requested to follow you, accept?_ "

 

mark presses accept immediately, because he is a millennial and deserves recognition on all social media platforms. he doesn't recognize the name, nor acknowledges that three a.m. is a fucking late time to be on instagram. he goes into the app, and checks his dms, carefully remembering to ignore lucas' message.

 

then it catches his eye.

 

" _1 message request._ "

 

he clicks it, and it's the guy who _just_ followed him.

 

" ** _hi so i know u dont know me but im in ur music class nd i was wondering if we had an exam anytime soon???_** "

 

huh. he doesn't accept the message just yet, he wants to investigate this boy first. he only has two posts, one being a shot of seoul, another is a group photo. he zooms in on the boy, and quietly realises he's being somewhat creepy. half of his mind is telling him to answer the message and stop being weird but the rest of him wanted to go through his tagged photos and appreciate his aesthetic. mark realises finding someone cute after literally being spoken to once is strange. he returns to the message.

 

" _ur ok dont worry, i dont think so i rlly hope not skskdkdk_ "

 

he sends it.

 

" _i dont think ive ever seen u before tho?_ "

 

he adds.

 

yes, it's three a.m. and mark is trying to slide into this boys' dms.

 

it comes up that it's seen, and mark worries for a second he's been aired, but he's been calmed by the " _dong-hyukie12 is typing..._ ".

 

" ** _oh yeh, i wasn't in at the beginning cuz i was visiting family in seoul over the summer and i was preparing to move to canada, nd recently i got a leg injury so i was out for the better half of two months :(_** "

 

mark smiles.

 

" ** _i was in apart from that tho smh i cant believe you didn't ever notice me_** "

 

huh.

 

" _i find it hard to believe as well, usually cuties like u catch my eye immediately_ "

 

christ did he really say that? he instantly tries to unsend the message, but as donghyuk has already seen it, it would be even creepier for him to unsend it.

 

" ** _blunt, that's cool ig, never been called cute before so that's new_** "

 

" ** _u going to jaehyuns party?_** "

 

mark sighs in relief that he wasn't left on read, in fact it was a better response than what he was expecting.

 

" _i am indeed, are u_?"

 

he types.

 

" ** _i am, we should hang out, all of my friends are in their last year of high school, nd i've found it hard to maintain friends here so_** "

 

he smiles again.

 

" _that's g then_ "

 

mark passes out.

 

**day three, march 25th**

 

johnny is back. back doing what?

 

back annoying mark.

 

it is midnight. johnny is in his bedroom with some...guy.

 

it was a blur. johnny banged on his door, waking mark up from a dream he was happily having, practically humping some guy by the door. johnny brought his friend into the house, pinning him against the wall as they made out messily. the smaller of the two was panting as johnny sucked hickeys into his neck. "you wanna watch? i, i like being watched- _fuuuuuck_ johnny, do that again please," he finished with a whine.

 

it's safe to say mark isn't having a _great_ time hearing a stranger moan and whine in the room next to him while johnny is, essentially, yelling filth at him.

 

he wishes he had his spotify premium account. there's just some albums he can't get on youtube.

 

five dollars for a relationship package deal.

 

an offer has never looked so tempting.

 

he takes out his phone and goes on instagram.

 

" _donghyuk i need a favour_ "

 

he closes his phone, awaiting a response. spotify required three people to vouch that the relationship was "legit" and be following each other on spotify for at least three days. he has to get into a "relationship" first. and he'll be fucked if he tries using johnny, who currently is telling the guy - ten, his name might be - how tight he is.

 

it's no more than three minutes before donghyuk replies.

 

" _go for it_ "

 

" _i need you to be my fake boyfriend so i can get cheap spotify premium cuz if i ever have to hear my roommate bang his friends ever again i'm going to stsrt crying_ "

 

" ** _huh_** "

 

" _donghyuk pls i have like, no other friends that i can do this with_ "

 

" _ur like, my only hope_ "

 

" _my closest friend_ "

 

" ** _the first time we spoke was literally yesterday_** "

 

" _the only person i can trust_ "

 

" _ **mhmh fine but only cuz ur hot**_ "

 

ok. ok ok. ok ok ok.

 

mark is blushing. _do i seriously have a crush on this guy i spoke to only yesterday oh my god. my crush called me hot._

 

" _thank u boo_ "

 

" _my spotify is @markrllyrllylikesexo_ "

 

" _ **ok b**_ "

 

mark congratulates himself. albeit, he congratulates himself while the "ten" guy is shouting how he's going to cum. 

 

mark doesn't know if he's happier that he's got a discount, or that donghyuk called him hot.

 

both.

 

**day six, march 28th**

 

mark and donghyuk have been talking non-stop since the first time.

 

it's been a combination of flirtatious and light hearted.

 

mark's happy to be talking to someone who isn't johnny.

 

speaking of speaking to people, he should probably answer lucas' text.

 

mark has noticed something. donghyuk hasn't been as active or talking to him as much. and it's making him sad, if he has to be truly honest.

 

ten's been coming to their apartment everyday now. he apologised profusely at how he acted the first time, and mark, being mark, forgave him. so he was becoming closer with ten. ten, who was the biggest fucking flirt he's ever met, and in the past two days, he's been asked to take part in a threeway at least ten (no pun intended) times. but he's friendly and that's all that matters. 

 

ten's a dance major. he can see why johnny enjoys him so much.

 

it's been three days, and donghyuk got one of his friends to vouch for their "relationship," and mark got ten and johnny to help as well. and since it's been three days since they followed each other on spotify so they officially have shared spotify premium.

 

mark is fucking elated.

 

mark glances at what his friends are listening to.

 

johnny is listening to sexuality by taemin, and mark raises an eyebrow at how quiet things have gone in their room. 

 

lucas is listening to ikons latest album. mark smiles in fondness. _that's a lucas thing to do. i should open his message._

 

donghyuk is listening to love is a dog from hell by mad dog. mark is confused, and clicks onto a playlist he's listening from.

 

" calm me down before i die "

 

it has songs from various artists, but all of the songs are soft, sad sounding songs. don't leave by block b. stay by exo. november rain by kris.

 

he texts him on instagram. 

 

" _you okay?_ "

 

" _ **mhm**_ "

 

" _i can tell ur not_ "

 

" _ **how**_ "

 

" _from ur spotify_ "

 

" _ **oh**_ "

 

" _i'm here for you b_ "

 

" ** _i know_** "

 

mark doesn't reply, donghyuk clearly doesn't want to have a conversation.

 

**day nine, march 31st**

mark and donghyuk haven't spoken. and mark is really upset. 

 

so upset than even johnny has picked up on it. 

 

he's been trying his best to cheer mark up but it doesn't work.

 

"come on, you're still going to jaehyuns," johnny tells him, and mark knows he'll go so he just nods.

 

when it gets to nine in the night, johnny has already left to pick up ten, and mark doesn't know if he's going to go. 

 

it gets to eleven and he gets a text from johnny. 

 

" _ **ur fake bf is here nd he's sad please come**_ "

 

guess mark _is_ going after all.

 

when he arrives, the party is as lively as it always is. the minute he walks in he sees jaehyun showing taeyong off like he's a gift from god (to be fair, he is). and as he searches for johnny, he isn't surprised to see him and johnny engaging in...something he doesn't really want to see. 

 

johnny is on the sofa, with ten kneeling in between his legs. 

 

 mark isn't drunk enough for this. 

 

in order to bleach his eyes, he takes a shot of vodka and drinking a bottle of...something.

 

it doesn't take much to get him tipsy. 

 

so now he's at the party, alone, tipsy, and whipped for some boy he met just over a week ago.

 

the party continues, and mark finds a group of guys hanging around in the corner, and he staggers over to them, leaning on one of their shoulders. 

 

"dude, you alright? you look out of it," one of them with blondish hair say.

 

"i'll take care of him," someone says.

 

while he's dragged upstairs to, what he assumes is a bathroom (as much as he can assume in a drunken state) and he hears the person beside him speak. "of course you come over to _my_ group when you're drunk. of course your gorgeous ass has to get drunk and come over to _me_. fucks sake."

 

he's set down beside a cold surface. a bath? tiles?

 

"mhmmm...we in the bathroom?" he murmurs, leaning his head back against the cold...whatever the cold thing is.

 

"we are. why're you so drunk?"

 

mark hums. "thas a good question. 'm really worried 'bout this boy and i thought he'd be here but i can't find him," mark pouts, "my friend johnny told me he was sad so i came but now _i'm_ sad."

 

the guy inhales.

 

"and _god_ i am _so_ whipped for him. literally, the, uh, first time i spoke to him, he was, he was just so darn cute!"

 

" _and i miss him_ ," mark frowns.

 

"jesus." the guy moves towards him, petting his back.

 

mark is crying. this isn't new, but it is the first time he's cried over a guy.

 

"come with me, come home with me," the guy whispers into his ear. 

 

mark can't remember anything that happened that night. and he probably should concerned, never know what could happen.

 

mark wakes up with an arm around his waist, and in someone else's bed. and he knows its someone else's bed, because he can't hear the creaking when he moves. but of course, he is slightly concerned at where he is, and who he's with.

 

"hey," the guy says, and when mark looks at him, he softens. because he's staring at the most beautiful boy he's ever seen. his hair is fluffy and like a halo around him and his eyes are soft and tired and _jesus christ_ mark is whipped.

 

"hey," mark replies, blush on his cheeks and headache threatening to take over. 

 

"so you're whipped for me, huh?" donghyuk whispers, eyes boring into marks.

 

mark just blushes, and buries his head into donghyuks neck.

 

donghyuk hums.

 

mark is happy, but now donghyuk is the happiest man on earth.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> can someone like, be my friend i want writing friends uwu  
> anyways leave kudos??


End file.
